Wizard World LA: Batman Begins & Fantastic Four

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First look at new footage!

By Stax

New footage from Batman Begins and Fantastic Four was unveiled at this past weekend's Wizard World L.A. convention. While there were no Bat-guests in attendance, Marvel Studios CEO and producer Avi Arad and actor Chris Evans (The Human Torch) were on hand for FF.

The Fantastic Four panel went first. A rep for 20th Century Fox presented new footage, which had originally been shown at the recent Showest convention. He advised fans that the special effects had just been completed before Showest. Then the five minute-plus clip was shown to eager fans.

The FF reel gave a barebones account of the film's narrative, beginning with their fateful spaceflight and their bombardment with cosmic rays. The storm effect appeared almost fiery with the titular quarter and fellow passenger Victor Von Doom being fully consumed by it. Their respective powers manifest themselves shortly thereafter, with Johnny Storm and Von Doom seeming to enjoy their newfound abilities the most.

What Dr. Doom's master plan is in the film remains a mystery but we see him battling with The Invisible Woman and The Thing, respectively. Indeed, the most crowd-pleasing moment was when Michael Chiklis' rocky hero grumbled "It's clobberin' time!" and summarily punched Doom through a wall!

Johnny Storm dove from a window and exclaimed "Flame on!" (another crowd-goes-wild moment), streaking off over the New York cityscape. Humor was also evident in the piece, with Johnny's incessant chiding of Ben most apparent ("Where are your ears?").

Overall, the Fantastic Four reel went over well with the audience, although this viewer is still less than impressed with Dr. Doom's visage. Yes, he looks like the comic book character for the most part ... but he also looks silly and cheap. That said, the Green Goblin costume left me feeling the same way and I still enjoyed Spider-Man so maybe FF will pull it off.

Arad and Evans addressed questions and concerns about the film, with Evans advising fans that he missed out on the comic book experience growing up but is now a fan (referring to comics several times as "literature"). Evans feels he "won the lottery" in getting the role (after blowing it on three separate auditions, including once reading for the role of Reed Richards), and also revealed that he's contractually obligated for two sequels.

Chris Evans flames on.

"The first movie is an establishing film of us getting our powers, being kind of awkward with them, not quite sure how to use and now quite sure if this is what we want to do with our lives," Evans said. "The majority of the film is that struggle and we all come together at the end and have a final battle, which is great because we get to use our powers."

Arad promised fans that the film will be true to the comics ("The Doom you see is the Doom from the comics," neglecting to mention the major changes made to the character). Both men emphasized the film's focus on family, with Arad saying that the hardest part of the film's decade-long period in development hell was getting the script and the multiple characters right. He also said the advancements made in special effects technology were key as well.

Arad fielded inquiries about other Marvel films as well, revealing that there's a "50-50" chance we'll see Venom in Spider-Man 3 and that David Goyer is still in talks for Thor (calling it "Marvel's Lord of the Rings").